A special invitation booklet we recently produced. Combining printing techniques isn’t something new to us but we think the use of digital and letterpress printing in these custom wedding booklets is really smart! The booklet was designed by the groom, Aramazt Kalayjian, as a way to keep all of the information neatly organized. We’re no […]

Combining printing techniques isn’t something new to us but we think the use of digital and letterpress printing in these custom wedding booklets is really smart! The booklet was designed by the groom, Aramazt Kalayjian, as a way to keep all of the information neatly organized.

We’re no stranger to envelopes stuffed full for a wedding suite and sometimes it can be a bit much to keep all of the pieces together. A booklet is definitely a great choice if you’re having a destination wedding. This is our second post in our new series on Invitation Ideas (previous post: RSVP Liner), let us know what you think about this set after the break.

The finished suite is really gorgeous especially with the letterpress cover. The invitation suite definitely has a red theme, with the cover and inner pages, even the belly band all designed in red. It’s important when mixing techniques, to match the ink colors so that everything fits together and matches.

The booklet consists of 4 inner pages which were printed on a digital press. After printing, the sheets were scored, folded, and saddle stitched to create the booklet. We added a custom belly band also printed on a digital press to hold the booklet closed. The last piece were the envelopes, which were letterpress printed using the same red ink.

The cover itself was the only part of the booklet that was letterpress printed. We used 110lb pearl white Lettra and printed them on a Vandercook Universal III using a photopolymer plate.

The front of the cover features a phoenix clutching flowers and the back a full print of a lace doily. The pattern used on the cover is a common design found in armenian lace.

Letterpress printing is definitely unique in its looks and feel, which is why it’s so popular. But, for larger suites the cost can add up. That’s why we think this booklet, with the combination of digital and letterpress, is the perfect choice. We kept the cover to one color so that the front and back could be printed in one pass on the cylinder press. The rest of the pieces with the exception of the envelopes were all done on the digital press.

Now on to the inside of the booklet:

This is the first page of the wedding booklet, which showcases the armenian version of the invitation printed on a transparent vellum sheet. We opted for a transparent sheet so that the english version of the invitation would show partially through.

For the second page, we used a textured offset stock to tie in with the texture of the Lettra cover.

This page has the english version of the invitation, especially important for those guests that don’t know Armenian. The great part about digital printing is that it’s a 4-color process. As the sheet runs through the press, it lays down the right mixture of C/Y/M/K to create almost any color.

Normally, if we can’t run something via letterpress our next step is offset, but with so many colors and such a short run digital was the perfect choice. The quality of the digital prints are so good that they’re on par with most offset work.

Here’s the middle of the booklet. It’s always really important to us that the staples line up properly in the middle. Not only does it look clean but the books won’t fold properly if your not dead center on the score line.

To the right above you’ll see the accommodations card and the reply card. This sheet was scored and perforated to make it easy to tear off the RSVP and mail it back. See some process shots of the perforation at the bottom of the post.

We love the little icons used for the entreé choices! Each person who replies draws a line from their name to the meal icon. Some of these closeup photos really highlight the texture on the paper.

This photo is a great closeup of the perforated reply card. The couple decided on a reply postcard, like we’ve used on other suites.

The three photos above show the back of the accommodation card and the RSVP postcard. Because of the full bleed on the postcard it was really important to get the perf. to fall right on the border.

The last page was kept simple with a small red graphic. The layout of the booklet meant that this page was also printed on the transparent vellum stock.

Here are a few photos we snapped while the pages were being scored and perforated on one of the Heidelberg Windmills. Because of all of the scoring and die-cutting we do on special projects, we keep one windmill dedicated to this kind of setup.

If you’re interested in wedding booklets or have questions on how best to mix letterpress with other techniques, email us (contact@dolcepress.com) to get the conversation started.